County water supplier considers model drought plan

In case of drought, unified response sought

By BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer | Friday, March 21, 2008 9:13 PM PDT ∞

Hoping to forge a unified response by local water districts if water supplies are threatened this summer, San Diego County's major water supplier will consider a model conservation ordinance now.

Local water districts would also have to adopt the suggested plan for it to work, said Dana Friehauf, principal water resources specialist for the San Diego County Water Authority. The authority, which imports water from outside the county and resells it to local water districts, takes up the proposal at next Thursday's meeting.

The model ordinance has been developed over six months in cooperation with the districts, Friehauf said. If approved by the Water Authority, it will be sent to the districts with an official recommendation.

"Every one (of these districts) has one of these ordinances in place, but what we've found is there's inconsistencies between the ordinances," Friehauf said. "We also found that one of them hadn't been updated since 1991, during the last drought."

The model ordinance sets up four levels of conservation, with increasingly stringent cuts called for at each level.

The first stage, a Drought Watch, calls for voluntary conservation of up to 10 percent.

Stage 2, Drought Alert, seeks up to 20 percent conservation; Stage 3, Drought Critical, up to 40 percent; and Stage 4, Drought Emergency, seeks more than 40 percent conservation. Each stage outlines steps to achieve the conservation goals. These include restricting irrigation of landscaping or car washing.

Levels 2 through 4 are mandatory, and punishable by various penalties, such as fines or up to 30 days in the county jail.

By making the definitions the same across the board, agencies will make it easier for the public to cooperate, Friehauf said. The ordinance makes allowances for those who are already taking steps to conserve water. It would be unfair to ask them to make the same percentage cutbacks as those who are not conserving, she said.

It's a good time to update the ordinances, Friehauf said. With winter over, California's rainy season is nearly at an end, and the county faces an uncertain outlook for its summer water supply. Imports from Northern California are likely to be cut because of threats to the delta smelt, an endangered fish.

"We will be officially notified in April by the Metropolitan Water District, the agency that supplies us," Friehauf said.

The impending cutback complicates a water outlook that otherwise is not too bad after years of below-average rain and snow prompted drought warnings. The county's rainfall, which supplies a fraction of the county's water, is a little less than average. The snowpack in the Sierra mountains, a much bigger source of water, is a bit above average.

The complete text of the model ordinance is in PDF at the water authority's Web site, at: http://tinyurl.com/27m529.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.